Topic: Fulcrum Text; The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Tools of literary analysis will be used to experience history through the critical lens of race, feminism, New Historicism, and Reader-response.
Rationale: By reading The Help as a fulcrum text, students will experience a view of history they may feel familiar with; the Civil Rights Movement. Through the use of English Language Arts skills and analysis techniques, students will gain a deeper knowledge of the intricate challenges people faced. Through Stockett's well developed characters, students will begin to understand the ways literature enhances the exploration of the human experience. Reading a novel like The Help will provide insight and humanize the history of racialization and oppression in our not-too-distant past. Students will experience how literature places a "face" on the facts.
Objective: Students will begin to understand ways literature enhances their knowledge of the human experience. Reading: Students will demonstrate progress in their ability to actively read with a New Historic lens. Writing: Through research, students will apply factual evidence to demonstrate a connection to The Help and the challenges people faced.
Common Core Standards: Reading:
RL 10 - 1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL 10 - 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings: analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
RI 10 - 1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
a. Develop factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions for further exploration of the topic(s). Language:
L 10 - 3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
a. Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in a style manual appropriate for the discipline and writing type. Speaking and Listening:
SL 10 - 4. Present information, finding, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience , and task. Writing:
W 10 - 9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
W 10 - 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research project to answer a question or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
Understanding: Students will understand that historical literary fiction deepens our knowledge of the complexity of the past and allows us to experience empathy for human side of history by:
understanding the benefits of performing a close reading
understanding the benefits cross-textual references from from other genres in the layering of background knowledge
understanding how a symbiotic relationship between literature and informational texts exits and broadens our knowledge base, enhances factual knowledge and deepens our understanding of the world.
Title: Explore History Through Literature
Grade: 10
Topic: Fulcrum Text; The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Tools of literary analysis will be used to experience history through the critical lens of race, feminism, New Historicism, and Reader-response.
Rationale: By reading The Help as a fulcrum text, students will experience a view of history they may feel familiar with; the Civil Rights Movement. Through the use of English Language Arts skills and analysis techniques, students will gain a deeper knowledge of the intricate challenges people faced. Through Stockett's well developed characters, students will begin to understand the ways literature enhances the exploration of the human experience. Reading a novel like The Help will provide insight and humanize the history of racialization and oppression in our not-too-distant past. Students will experience how literature places a "face" on the facts.
Objective: Students will begin to understand ways literature enhances their knowledge of the human experience.
Reading: Students will demonstrate progress in their ability to actively read with a New Historic lens.
Writing: Through research, students will apply factual evidence to demonstrate a connection to The Help and the challenges people faced.
Common Core Standards:
Reading:
RL 10 - 1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL 10 - 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings: analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
RI 10 - 1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
a. Develop factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions for further exploration of the topic(s).
Language:
L 10 - 3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
a. Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in a style manual appropriate for the discipline and writing type.
Speaking and Listening:
SL 10 - 4. Present information, finding, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience , and task.
Writing:
W 10 - 9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
W 10 - 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research project to answer a question or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
Understanding: Students will understand that historical literary fiction deepens our knowledge of the complexity of the past and allows us to experience empathy for human side of history by:
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9764Explore_History_Through_Literature